IT Security Editors
Depending on which feature you use, Google Maps offers a satellite view or a street-level view of tons of locations around the world. You can look up landmarks like the Pyramids of Egypt or the Great Wall of China, as well as more personal places, like your ex’s house. But for all of the places that Google Maps allows you to see, there are plenty of places that are off-limits. Whether it’s due to government restrictions, personal-privacy lawsuits or mistakes, Google Maps has slapped a "Prohibited" sign on the following 51 places.
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@Lorn #7 is CLEARLY blurred.
Posted by: qwerty, 03:38:40 on 2008-10-12
I'm suprised how many dutch site are blured on Google maps even the queens house. www.helpinghandalmere.nl
Posted by: HHA, 17:24:13 on 2008-10-04
Area 51 street view map http://www.satellite-sightseer.com/id/1007/United_States/Nevada/Rachel/Area_51
Posted by: dan williams, 00:18:57 on 2008-09-30
Point 7 is false. Just search for 'Leeuwarden, NL' and you get to see the city in all its glory. Someone didn't check their facts...
Posted by: Lorn, 11:00:05 on 2008-09-29
I call bullsh*t, I can clearly see the reactor at Lucas Heights and it's cheese shredder anti-aircraft cage.
Posted by: Derrrr, 00:57:26 on 2008-09-29
#23 should be stricken from the list - most US software contracts state that the licensee promises not to export the software to Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Cuba, Libya, and a number of other countries that are, or have been, on lists of terror-sponsored countries. This originated, I think, in decryption and encryption software, but I've seen the contracts say so even in game software contracts. Somehow it has spread, probably because corporate lawyers fear some kind of liability. Anyway, it's a software export issue, not a censorship issue. The guy can presumably still run Google Maps, for instance, since it doesn't involve downloading any software.
Posted by: Dwildor, 16:59:53 on 2008-09-28
None of the six Boston-area locations mentioned in this list appear to be blurred or pixelated. See my detailed discussion at http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2008/09/26/boston-unblurred-debunking-the-google-maps-censorship-myth/. I suspect that many of these cases of alleged censorship are simply places where high and low resolution images are juxtaposed (e.g. Wasilla, AK); Google has a long way to go before it will have high-resolution images for the entire planet. Not exactly a big conspiracy.
Posted by: Wade Roush, 16:27:23 on 2008-09-28
what the.....?? 28.085568,-110.595846
Posted by: Phil, 07:38:37 on 2008-09-28
My hometown of Los Alamos, New Mexico is completely blurred out.
Posted by: Bantolph, 06:25:59 on 2008-09-28
Colonial Pipeline Tank Farm north of Belton, SC is blurred out, but i checked 4 of their other tank farms (Columbia VA, Charlotte, Greensboro, Spartanburg SC) and they are not blurred out. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl;=en&geocode;=&q;=belton,+sc&ie;=UTF8≪=34.543611,-82.478743&spn;=0.063911,0.131836&t;=h&z;=14
Posted by: LLG, 03:53:19 on 2008-09-28
you also cannot search for palestine- try and you get teleported to the center of the ocean.
Posted by: senate, 23:56:18 on 2008-09-22
"You missed the old radar stations at the top of Greenland that were early warning stations during the Cold War." I know, how incompetent! They missed the gas station down on the corner that closed last year, too. And the people across the street changed the colour of the shingles when they re-roofed their house a few months ago and that's been missed, too. Missing old radar stations in some remote arctic location during the 50s and 60s is the last straw! How on earth could Google miss the dismantled DEW Line locations? This is outrageous! You would think with what we all pay to use Google Earth, we'd get our money's worth. I'm going to use my gmail account to e-mail them or maybe Star Office to write a snailmail and complain about this shoddy service.
Posted by: Jeff, 01:57:55 on 2008-09-21
Theye never made any stealth bombers at Grumman's factory on Long Island. They were made in Palmdale, CA. That applies to both the Northrop B-2 and the Lockheed F-117. Both companies have factories in Palmdale. Some of the people posting here are way too paranoid. "They" aren't watching me. My house is blurred out on Google, so "they" can't see me. (I'm consoled by the knowledge that 2 or 3 of you still have a sense of humour.)
Posted by: Jeff, 01:48:19 on 2008-09-21
I am wondering why State College, PA (Penn State University) and the area about 10 miles in every direction is very low resolution on Google Earth? Most of the rest of PA is much higher. Microsoft's satellite maps are ok in resolution. Are there too many PSU alums working for Google?
Posted by: David Bauchspies, 15:25:44 on 2008-09-20
Area 51 is quite visible on Google Earth.
Posted by: LTCayde, 18:27:25 on 2008-09-19
Right after Sarah Palin was announced as McCain's pick, I looked up Wasilla, AK, and it was clear down to one click (the last click got the "too close" white map). There were even street views, although not in Wasilla, but in Anchorage and along the highway going from Anchorage to Wasilla. Now, it's all gone. Wasilla is all blurred out, the land north of Wasilla is totally wiped out, and there are no more street views of Anchorage or the highways going past Wasilla. This bites.
Posted by: Jimmy, 05:39:33 on 2008-09-19
My big purple url on my Duck Boat in Grapevine Mills Mall was washed out. Compare http://duckriders.com/download/GoogleStreetView/parked.bmp and http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl;=en&geocode;=&q;=grapevine+mills+mall&ie;=UTF8≪=32.982262,-97.03743&spn;=0.033947,0.051155&z;=15&layer;=c&cbll;=32.965265,-97.039359&panoid;=LGDiOMYUWh1xZc-ptfAdNw&cbp;=2,270.9871599035762,,0,22.488010053611162
Posted by: Duck Driver, 17:40:41 on 2008-09-17
Maybe the guam site is a second installation of HAARP antennas.
Posted by: Brad, 22:12:44 on 2008-09-15
Every single US base in the world (832 in all, I do believe, although there may be additional bases that nobody knows about) and the surrounding countryside is blurred out. These blurrings are called "ICBM Fields" because they contain strategic nuclear targets - the entire blurred area would be carpet-bombed with 100kton devices. For example, there are two US heroin distribution centers, er, I mean military airbases within 5 miles of the town of Boston, Lincolnshire, England. See if you can spot them.
Posted by: Universal Mind, 18:11:46 on 2008-09-15
HAARP is probably the most important thing on this page. The technology associated with this facility has the power to create earthquakes and control the weather.
Posted by: Ken, 16:37:05 on 2008-09-15
And what's this that's whited out in Burbank, CA? Could it be a FEMA Detention Camp? 34'11.05N, 118'16.30 W
Posted by: Les Hartness, 23:00:33 on 2008-09-14
I can see ALL of the blurred out images if I squint
Posted by: dogrocks, 09:32:07 on 2008-09-13
The entire Alfa oil field off the coast of Carmen Mexico, shows only open water, if people saw the pollution PEMEX is putting out we would be sending troops down there for their oil!
Posted by: Lars, 04:09:02 on 2008-09-11
You can add to that Diego Garcia.
Posted by: Josh, 19:42:13 on 2008-09-10
(Re: #44) Brookhaven National Labratory (BNL) is NOT located in Stony Brook, NY or AT the Stony Brook State college in Stony Brook, NY, either. BNL is located in Upton, NY (adjacent to Shirley, NY).
Posted by: Scott Mosher, 16:31:21 on 2008-09-10
Interesting that you can't see the Capitol, but you can see the roof of the Library of Congress, which has 3 buildings
Posted by: Davin Peterson, 13:52:40 on 2008-09-10
A big chunk of the village of Brunssum, The Netherlands is blurred out. During the Cold War this was the HQ of Allied Forces Central Europe. I know...I worked there for three years.
Posted by: Ed, 13:25:29 on 2008-09-10
i can see the ramstein airforce base on google maps and live maps. email me please if im wrong and thats a public airport or something
Posted by: mike, 12:50:25 on 2008-09-10
The street name overlay for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia used to be great. Recently it vanished and we now have just a couple of yellow lines for two major roads. Copyright issues?
Posted by: zippo, 12:40:25 on 2008-09-10
how come Wasilla Alaska is suddenly blurred out? hmmmmm maybe putting someone in office so they could eventually do what they want up there with plenty of oil to fill greedy politicians pockets
Posted by: C. Scheer, 08:26:20 on 2008-09-10
I was certainly surprised to see my residence on this list. I have no idea why this would be censored...very odd indeed.
Posted by: William Hurt, 06:05:30 on 2008-09-10
Well if they're hiding the Capitol, maybe that explains why Congress never gets anything done. They can't find it.
Posted by: Snickers, 02:10:49 on 2008-09-10
I found "The Others" houses from Lost! 21°34'39.66"N, 158°13'30.78"W
Posted by: Ottto Man, 01:34:28 on 2008-09-10
Oh NO! My house is blurry. I wonder what I'm hiding? Like harvey said, "most of the world is pretty low resolution". Don't let it feed conspiracy theories.
Posted by: Oh NO!, 00:02:20 on 2008-09-10
Yet you can see my house just fine... Unreal...
Posted by: Mike, 23:49:59 on 2008-09-09
How about Sunset Key, just off Key West? I doubt anything involving national security is going on there, although there are probably rich people that don't want to be ogled. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl;=en&geocode;=&q;=key+west&ie;=UTF8≪=24.561956,-81.813169&spn;=0.021468,0.043473&t;=h&z;=15 And on Ocracoke, why is everything except the harbor area? http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl;=en&geocode;=&q;=ocracoke&ie;=UTF8≪=35.111308,-75.980029&spn;=0.019308,0.043473&t;=h&z;=15&iwloc;=addr
Posted by: MAC, 22:12:22 on 2008-09-09
there's a group that are into r.c. planes,we will fill in some of the google holes with some aerial shots
Posted by: me, 22:10:49 on 2008-09-09
Here's an interesting one. I ssw the town of Wasilla,AK in great detail. Now Sarah Palin's hometown is blurred out. Last I checked the county property appraiser page still listed their 3 homes however.
Posted by: Kevin, 22:07:39 on 2008-09-09
I found "The Others" houses from Lost! 21°34'39.66"N, 158°13'30.78"W
Posted by: Ottto Man, 21:53:27 on 2008-09-09
#27: Guam Having been born and raised in Yona (pronounced "Joehn-nya") we always felt the military around. The joke was that the island was always flanked by nuclear subs. Perhaps that's true. Add the fact that at the south end there's a place called "Polaris Point" *with* a "non-working" model free standing Polaris missile... I'm kinda glad I live on the mainland now.
Posted by: DJ Guam Bomb, 19:51:24 on 2008-09-09
No Google maps for Republic of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. Large scale satellite imagery of Tbilisi and immediate environs, though, but it stops a few miles out of town.
Posted by: RW, 19:48:36 on 2008-09-09
Lets not forget the Plants in Oak Ridge Tennessee. my hometown was home to the Manhattan project. Everything that happened during ww2 had a hand here. There's a lot of the plant you can see, but once you get into the high high security area, its blocked. Also, oddly enough, cell phone reception near the perimeter of the land owned by the plant is scrambled.
Posted by: Joshua, 19:16:34 on 2008-09-09
JB has correctly pointed out one of my favorites which is pixellated: Diego Garcia. Also, though, Jerusalem, in Israel/Palestine.
Posted by: Lars, 19:02:14 on 2008-09-09
The old grumman plant on Long Island NY where they made the stealth fighters is also blocked. You should add that
Posted by: Fred, 18:48:02 on 2008-09-09
The funniest thing about all of these "banned" sites is that there are other locations throughout the web with legal high resolution aerial shots of these spots.
Posted by: Chuck, 18:47:54 on 2008-09-09
Naval base Den Helder, The Netherlands. http://maps.google.nl/?ie=UTF8≪=52.469397,5.509644&spn;=2.486382,4.943848&t;=h&z;=8
Posted by: galaxy, 10:19:14 on 2008-09-06
Try finding the Gold vault at Fort Knox,Kentucky. The army post you can see clearly but the area around the vault you can't.
Posted by: Tim, 02:20:17 on 2008-09-06
Number 12 is faulty. The US Embassy for the UK is not being built in France. No real plans to mvoe out of London until they agree a deal for the present property.
Posted by: John B. Corey Jr., 00:06:17 on 2008-09-06
Having processed several thousand USGS DOQQ geotiff files (reproject, mosaic, crop, load to website), the majority of rural USA is the 1 meter pixel resolution (3.280833'), which is noticeably low-resolution when compared to more recent 2' and 1' pixel resolution quality. I do remember some areas in central California being completely blacked out during some of that image processing. I also noticed that the late 90’s DOQQs (false color) for the state of Maryland (at least in the DELMARVA peninsula and DC suburbs) were all incorrectly georeferenced (NAD83, UTM N, Zone ?, meters) by several hundred feet—which meant that georectification to Lat-Lon required using modified false northings and eastings to make it possible to correctly overlay vector graphic map data on top of them. Hell, LandSat Thematic Mapper resolution imagery was 30 meter resolution, although it was multispectral (R,G,B,N-IR,T-IR) and used for Land Use Land Cover analysis (isoclass clusterbuilding 3-D scattergrams & eigenvector manipulation). The French SPOT imagery is 10 meter pixels. Technical limitations on scanners (image filesizes, zoom capabilities, swath width) restricted the practicality of higher resolution imagery until the last 5 to 10 years. Commercially available hi-resolution data used to be available only by aerial survey (airplane/chopper) and was very expensive. With better scanners/cameras on more modern satellites, the higher resolution imagery should be more common as older images are archived and replaced with newer, better quality imagery. An odd view in Google Earth is to center on the South Pole, and notice the radial pattern centered at geometric south (90 degrees).
Posted by: Henry, 22:52:28 on 2008-09-04
Wardenclyffe tower is shown on Live Maps (linked from Wiki) with a large earth mover digging. And Live will not let me print a screenshot, but print screen worked so I got a photo. Looks like they are digging it up.
Posted by: bob, 20:00:50 on 2008-09-04
How about that black rectangle in Greenland? Also, the scribbled out square near Tuelle, Utah (I hope I spelled that correctly) This is near a weapons dump. This could be a very long ongoing list!
Posted by: suzanne dippner, 18:10:24 on 2008-09-04
Another area that fails to show any detail is the Bohemian Grove campsite, the 2,700-acre area of woods, in Monte Rio, near San Francisco California. The drive is shown but no pathways, or camp site. There is also a large man made lake which should be clearly be visible among the trees. Not a sausage!
Posted by: Andrew Graham, 18:09:28 on 2008-09-04
In all probability their are saucer instalations being with held because then US, Russia,fourth reich don't want us to know. Because of the US-Third reich stalemate in 1945 which kept us from advaced technology to help each one of us on the earth. Thanks be to the Trilateral Copmmission and the illuminate.
Posted by: Christopher L. Seum, 17:35:51 on 2008-09-04
Is it possible that there is temporary blurring to cover activity that they want secret? Also, if you are interested in Chernobyl go to www.kiddofspeed.com/ - 5k VERY INTERESTING!
Posted by: peacenik patriot, 14:33:34 on 2008-09-04
There is also a blurred site at hwy 107 and rocks road near hampton beach new hampshire. Anyone know what that is? It has a huge raydome or observatory.
Posted by: bill, 14:29:49 on 2008-09-04
Most of Tokyo is completely greyed out on the rooftops, why is that?
Posted by: Wayne, 12:49:35 on 2008-09-04
Number #46 (Noordwijk aan Zee) does not hide ESTEC, which is a few kilometres to the south. Instead, it hides housing blocks, a few shops and two schools. What's the use?
Posted by: Clown, 12:48:47 on 2008-09-04
The reason you can't see DICK Cheney's house is because it's like trying to take a vampire's picture.
Posted by: Mike, 12:34:09 on 2008-09-04
[You forgot area 51... Posted by: Andrew, 04:04:15 on 2008-07-16] its on google earth, i can tell what everything is on the image, but of course its very old images.
Posted by: mike, 05:15:12 on 2008-09-04
they forgot Iron Mountain. google earth wont even show which mountain is Iron Mountain
Posted by: Mike, 05:13:17 on 2008-09-04
Don't forget Area 51!
Posted by: Stephanie, 04:23:54 on 2008-09-04
ANSWER: The site of the Tesla Wardenclyffe tower is now a nuclear power plant and thus it is obvious why the site is blocked. Question: the site of nikols tesla's wardenclyffe tower has also been obscured by google, i found it with no problem on terraserver, the question is WHY? Posted by: almon, 21:40:09 on 2008-09-03
Posted by: new york frank, 04:18:11 on 2008-09-04
the site of nikols tesla's wardenclyffe tower has also been obscured by google, i found it with no problem on terraserver, the question is WHY?
Posted by: almon, 21:40:09 on 2008-09-03
You forgot to mention Barbra Streisand's house in Malibu!
Posted by: Fed Up, 21:33:53 on 2008-09-03
Ramstein Air Base in Germany is where wounded soldiers from Iraq are taken. If they should die there they are not listed as casualties of the war, so double the number of dead US soldiers that is reported and that is probably a more accurate number.
Posted by: Phlegm, 19:45:33 on 2008-09-03
PAVE PAWS, MA? that's odd the one at Beale AFB in Yuba Co. CA is not degraded, I wonder why. http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie;=UTF8≪=39.136148,-121.350501&spn;=0.003112,0.004383&t;=h&z;=18
Posted by: evan, 02:02:00 on 2008-09-03
A small correction to the Singapore item: your news item was published on *April 1st*, 2008 by a blog, not the SLA. It's a hoax.
Posted by: Jpatokal, 04:17:31 on 2008-08-29
Blurring pictures admits the security apparatus of the given installation is defective or there is activity which offends human rights. If a facility can be breached merely by seeing it in plain view, the facility is effectively unsecured. One of the many "first rules" of security is that the enemy knows the system and blurring of any facility essentially admits the security apparatus is so bad that it can't survive obvious inspection. Any good security system's nature should be able to be fully publicized without any functional impairment to that system. It seems we have lousy or false security in many places. Also, blurring of regions (Tibet, for example) is an admission that activity is occurring which would offend the moral senses of any reasonable person observing. So we know by omission that there activities within which are admittedly inhumane or morally repugnant. In a situational way, the blurring is actually more circumstantially revealing than the actual clean image as it admits defects in the subjects being imaged, then blurred. Basically in the circumstances which called for blurring, any blurred installation has admitted defective security (and information can be gathered elsewhere) and any blurred region has activities which demand restoration of human rights.
Posted by: esmith512, 18:35:27 on 2008-08-27
This is hilarious! Certain countries get to have all the detailed maps and others do not. Where's the equity in it. LOL... As an individual, can we protest having our homes shown? Best not to have it or to have it all. It's all part of the modern technology. If they didn't want this kind of scrutiny; then they shouldn't have sent spy satelites in space. Why should the elite get all the fun!
Posted by: Tane, 05:52:57 on 2008-08-26
In Guam, "The U.S. military maintains jurisdiction over its bases, which cover approximately 39,000 acres (160 km2), or 29% of the island's total land area". They have 7 bases there. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guam#Villages_and_military_bases cheers
Posted by: alias, 06:37:42 on 2008-08-22
Also blurred, but not in the list is Volkel in The Netherlands: http://twurl.nl/vr5m5v
Posted by: mark, 11:52:48 on 2008-08-21
Earthquake areas -- Yingxiu, Wenchuan, Ngawa in Sichuan Province. Big blur.
Posted by: mlazzzz, 09:55:59 on 2008-08-12
Yona, Guam isn't blurred out. It's just a little hazy.
Posted by: Jon Sweitzer-Lamme, 23:59:02 on 2008-07-29
Most of the decks of US aircraft carriers at US Naval bases have white blocks over certain planes on deck - I don't know which ones or why. It's pretty cool though you can see a lot of the equipment.
Posted by: dread, 17:17:18 on 2008-07-28
Over a year ago, and confirmed recently, I noticed that Beaufort Castle, in Southern Lebanon, is blurred out. It sits prominently on a high ridgeline, above the Litanni River as it flows South, overlooking both most of the Bekaa Valley, and much of Northern Israel. Since it is occupied by Hezboallah, they may be rebuilding the bunkers underground there, and not want people to the South, or anyone, to estimate just how much they are doing.
Posted by: Tom Billings, 02:36:08 on 2008-07-28
that bay in cuba where there is a jail.. you know the one.. i can see that for the most part only cities and places of interest are mapped.. but then go to peru and yu have high res all over the andes. most of ireland is a blur (in reality too!). the hill of tara is strange one as south and north of it are high res. no doubt some areas have requested not to be seen, but for the most part i reckon it just hasnt been photoed
Posted by: cara, 20:39:59 on 2008-07-27
Most of the New York State imagery was obtained from the State of NY. Someone went nuts with the censorship there and everything with an oil tank is blurred out. As the images are updated this will go away.
Posted by: Mike B, 05:04:02 on 2008-07-27
st cloud mn airport runways and ramp whited out. MSP airport runways and ramp whited out.
Posted by: rob lip, 19:36:22 on 2008-07-26
JB is out to lunch...you can't get to the diego garcia base by typing it in the search bar on google, but you can indeed see it if you know where to look. and well enough to see bomber aircraft. ditto with the response on lo res...most of the world is pretty low resolution...it's a big world and there aren't that many resources to allow fine mapping of EVERYWHERE...get a life.
Posted by: harvey, 05:13:10 on 2008-07-22
Please add the North Pole to the list.
Posted by: Eileen, 23:58:20 on 2008-07-21
The whole ARGENTINA is out of planet Earth, if you try to use Google Maps. Check it!
Posted by: Lizandro, 11:29:31 on 2008-07-19
lol at shubopshadangalang
Posted by: drpepper, 04:56:01 on 2008-07-19
Argentina is not on Google Maps either... But anyway... Who cares! :p
Posted by: Rafa Borges, 04:46:37 on 2008-07-19
I bet Sergey Brin & Larry Page's residences cannot be seen on Google maps either!
Posted by: Lisa, 21:35:23 on 2008-07-18
I can confirm number 28 in Utrecht is a mistake. http://maps.google.com/maps?t=k&q;=52.094986,5.139272&ie;=UTF8≪=52.09451,5.141194&spn;=0.006143,0.012231&z;=16 What you see blocked is some houses, a park, and a graveyard. But... There is a Royal Marshal building to the right of the roundabout.
Posted by: Me telling you, 21:01:39 on 2008-07-18
No one said anything about the Garden of Eden. Oh wait, no one knows where that is, right?
Posted by: Sandra G, 21:00:29 on 2008-07-18
see also eastman kodak co facilities: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl;=en&geocode;=&q;=lake+ave,+rochester+ny&sll;=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn;=63.728771,108.28125&ie;=UTF8≪=43.199991,-77.63359&spn;=0.003652,0.006609&t;=h&z;=17&iwloc;=addr
Posted by: Jeff, 19:44:03 on 2008-07-18
I am still wondering why Parkersburg W.V. (26101)& Marietta Ohio (45750)are blurred out ? Those 2 cities, along with surrounding communities, have over 250,000 people yet most everything is fuzzy. I know the government has alot of top secret stuff (+chemical plants)around there but geesh, at least try not to be obvious.
Posted by: John, 18:56:57 on 2008-07-18
Nice of everyone to point out where there secrets are. The targets have been acquired.
Posted by: Through Obsurity, 18:50:12 on 2008-07-18
Constitution Island, across from West Point Military Academy (part of, actually) and just south of Cold Spring, NY is definitely blurred. Once you zoom in, you can see the level of detail difference on each side of the tracks. http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&oe;=utf-8≪=41.405656,-73.951335&spn;=0.011379,0.018797&t;=h&z;=16
Posted by: Joseph, 18:40:11 on 2008-07-18
Utrecht - it's not the city that is blurred, but just one spot - and that was indeed a mistake: http://www.ad.nl/utrecht/zuid/article718727.ece There are many more cities in teh Netherlads that are ancient, and Utrecht may be "a" religious center, it certainly isn't "the" religious center, since we don't have any "the" religion.
Posted by: Marjolein Katsma, 17:50:40 on 2008-07-18
Area 51 isn't blurred out because most of Area 51 is UNDERGROUND. If you look carefully you can see the tunnel entrances.
Posted by: Rick Cain, 17:39:28 on 2008-07-18
The Greenbriar resort is also blurred out. It's in White Sulfur Springs, WV. It's where congress had evacuation bunkers setup for themselves if DC were ever attacked.
Posted by: JLT, 17:33:03 on 2008-07-18
I like how they blur out all the nuclear plants...but leave some in plan view: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl;=en&geocode;=&q;=nine+mile+nuclear&sll;=43.458265,-76.531717&sspn;=0.049904,0.08317&ie;=UTF8≪=43.519396,-76.405578&spn;=0.024927,0.041585&t;=h&z;=15
Posted by: JD, 17:17:41 on 2008-07-18
7 and 10 are the same palce in your links
Posted by: mick, 10:58:29 on 2008-07-18
I can see the white house, the pentagon, the capitol, the air force base in netherlands, in fact all the locations mentioned except Dick Cheney's house. All are in high res too. Maybe Americans are all potential terrorists so can't be trusted with this kind of knowledge
Posted by: netean, 08:32:07 on 2008-07-18
You forgot to mention the island nation of Gauss. It's residents are notorious for their blur.
Posted by: shubopshadangalang, 02:03:16 on 2008-07-18
You can't see any detail on the University of Illinois campus, either. Sure it's got the NCSA, but I wonder what other interesting things are going on ...
Posted by: Deebee, 22:23:14 on 2008-07-17
number 46 isn't the estec/esa HQ, that lies at 52.216915,4.422255 Number 46 was a small military complex, but it is now no longer operational. And they missed the right spot, the complex lies just outside the blur ...
Posted by: local ppl, 20:44:02 on 2008-07-17
Umm ... can I please point out that "Parliament House and the Australian Defence Force headquarters in Canberra" are not in Sydney, in fact they are a few hundred kms from Sydney.
Posted by: Fred, 12:09:34 on 2008-07-17
This is a very poorly researched article. As many have said above, a lot of the places mentioned (Those that are actually places, and not anecdotal stories) aren't in any way censored.
Posted by: Ben Smith, 11:52:22 on 2008-07-17
curioser and curiosier!!
Posted by: j.,, 11:43:50 on 2008-07-17
Area 51 is not blurred out, in fact you can zoom along way in. Also, .. Chernobyl is definitely NOT blurred out. As its the power station and not the town, the town is called Prypiat and its in the Ukraine Just copy and paste into google maps / earth Prypiat, Ukraine and it will take you there, then just zoom out for the power station. What would be interesting is for Google earth to sort out places like Auschwitz concentration camp, and other historical sites.
Posted by: bob, 04:11:50 on 2008-07-17
Well you can see that Pickering Power plant on the north shore of Lake Ontario just fine!!!
Posted by: Fred Frith , 04:04:31 on 2008-07-17
51 things blurred out. Area 51. Coincidence or conspiracy????? There’s only one logical conclusion: UFOs
Posted by: asdfghjkl, 03:12:52 on 2008-07-17
I cant find jurassic Park
Posted by: masterhack, 02:12:16 on 2008-07-17
so is this spot: 40.825404,-73.647425
Posted by: fock, 01:10:45 on 2008-07-17
Here's another one you can add to the list...the B-2 pads at Whiteman AFB.
Posted by: Jim, 00:22:50 on 2008-07-17
Stonehenge...
Posted by: ivy, 23:43:36 on 2008-07-16
IBM Poughkeepsie and East Fishkill sites are also blurred. I found this out when trying to locate my car in the parking lots.
Posted by: gambit32, 23:29:09 on 2008-07-16
Why isn't Fidel Castro's outhous blurred, too? Or Chappaquiddick????
Posted by: Al Sprehe, 23:25:05 on 2008-07-16
The list seems to have forgotten Chernobyl in Ukraine. The power plant and the surrounding area is blurred.
Posted by: inswa, 23:20:07 on 2008-07-16
You also can't see the US base at Diego Garcia up close...it's almost impossible to see any detail.
Posted by: JB, 22:27:56 on 2008-07-16
Big deal. Most of the world is low res...
Posted by: Harri, 21:19:52 on 2008-07-16
Here's two more I've found. President and Senator Clintons' home address and The Church of The Nativity.(The Church is hidden by extensive and immediate cloud cover.) dePaul Consiglio iconsiglio.blogspot.com a blogger blog aroundtheworldin88minutes
Posted by: dePaul Consiglio Monsey NY USA, 19:02:56 on 2008-07-16
re: Utrecht - nothing seems to be banned or blurred there - I can see individual people in the streets (early morning, still very quiet): http://is.gd/V8a And what is "it does hold relevance as an ancient city and has served as the religious center of the Netherlands since the eighth century." supposed to mean? We have many ancient cities, and many religious centers, too. Why would Google maps block or blur any one of them?
Posted by: Marjolein Katsma, 18:58:09 on 2008-07-16
Why the hell does the link to the C3 headquarters in Brussels link to Den Haag (in The Netherlands, not belgium)?
Posted by: Ives van der Flaas, 17:43:14 on 2008-07-16
Check out the Alberta Tar Sands; just not there.
Posted by: peter andreae, 17:20:42 on 2008-07-16
The White House and Capitol aren't blurred out and neither is Ramstein Air Base.
Posted by: Michelle, 17:09:42 on 2008-07-16
Novi Sad: This military base in Serbia is off-limits. so the russians asked google to make it blurry? wtf?
Posted by: bill gats, 16:34:52 on 2008-07-16
Also, another research site; the IBM TJ Watson Research Center http://maps.google.com/?om=1&t;=h≪=41.209413,-73.801142&spn;=0.007652,0.009956 Any idea why this (and GE, etc) are blocked? Also, would be useful to have Google Map links for all of these....
Posted by: Brendan, 16:10:39 on 2008-07-16
Brookhaven National Labs, though managed by Stony Brook University is located off-site from the university about a twenty mile drive away in the town of Upton. Both Stony Brook University and BNL are clearly visible on Google Maps. The RHIC ring at BNL is so large that it can be seen via satellite images of Long Island.
Posted by: Jason Schneiderman, 15:57:02 on 2008-07-16
Regarding item 46: ESTEC is actually at and is not obscured at all. Must be some other reason for this censorship.
Posted by: Brace, 14:46:00 on 2008-07-16
The Pentagon? Perhaps to hide the fact that it does have missle batteries on the roof...which seem to not work on 9/11.
Posted by: Matt, 14:35:37 on 2008-07-16
neither stony brook university nor brookhaven natinal lab (20 miles to the east) is blurred out
Posted by: wrong info, 14:13:14 on 2008-07-16
White Plains airport itself is blurred - in addition to the train station? http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8≪=41.066653,-73.712865&spn;=0.00652,0.00957&t;=h&z;=17 It's not as distinct as the Soesterberg dutch air force base, but it's definitely visible, especially if you check the edges of the airport roads.
Posted by: Aaron, 14:02:18 on 2008-07-16
#21 is an April fools' joke :D
Posted by: Jussi, 13:42:51 on 2008-07-16
This is crap, I've just tested a dozen of these and been met with sharp images
Posted by: Paul, 13:42:32 on 2008-07-16
The coal-fired power generation plant in Salem MA is also blurred. http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=salem+ma&ie;=UTF8&oe;=utf-8&client;=firefox-a≪=42.526673,-70.87681&spn;=0.002925,0.004694&t;=h&z;=18&iwloc;=addr
Posted by: Gregg, 12:37:48 on 2008-07-16
one more thing that is blurred out is Bermuda on google maps, and even in google earth there is not that high res photo's, for being such a small place i would have thought they would have it all mapped out.
Posted by: S, 12:36:44 on 2008-07-16
#46: see http://www.gearthhacks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8903 ...
Posted by: lel, 11:53:26 on 2008-07-16
This is fascinating! Thanks so much for sharing this. Also - who would think that William Hurt was so important that his house needed fuzzing?! Joe - www.anewbandaday.com
Posted by: Joe | A New Band A Day, 08:36:50 on 2008-07-16
BTW, here is a link to the Royal Stables in The Hague: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl;=en&geocode;=&q;=hogewal,+den+haag&sll;=52.082407,4.306684&sspn;=0.011868,0.026608&ie;=UTF8≪=52.085018,4.304109&spn;=0.011867,0.026608&t;=k&z;=15&msa;=0&msid;=102169261810983710000.0000011274f8e5ada764d
Posted by: Chris, 07:54:47 on 2008-07-16
St. Louis School in Honolulu is definitively visible in Google Maps http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl;=en&geocode;=&q;=st+louis+school&sll;=21.289214,-157.806593&sspn;=0.001275,0.00235&ie;=UTF8≪=21.290449,-157.807319&spn;=0.001275,0.00235&t;=h&z;=19
Posted by: Scott , 07:50:59 on 2008-07-16
Lots more of these, on this map: http://maptrot.com/mapView.jsp?mapId=7650ebe9-447c-4fcf-b62b-ce787ac987a1&format;=view#
Posted by: Bob Rose, 06:49:40 on 2008-07-16
what about AREA 51????
Posted by: rudy, 06:04:50 on 2008-07-16
I live in Schenectady, and there's at least one more site that's grayed out there. Does anyone know what it is? It's just off Freeman's Bridge Road, at 42-50-01.90 N 73-55-44.62W. It looks like a very small tank farm - I've wondered if it's storage for some kind of toxic chemicals.
Posted by: Hank Fox, 05:44:21 on 2008-07-16
The shipyard at Newport News, Virginia is another area that is blurred out.
Posted by: Mike, 05:31:03 on 2008-07-16
Not sure why HAARP is listed. You can actually get some nice detail on the site at: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl;=en&geocode;=&q;=N+62+23.5++W+145+8.8+&ie;=UTF8≪=62.390489,-145.151625&spn;=0.023946,0.065832&t;=h&z;=14&iwloc;=addr Tim
Posted by: Tim Pozar, 05:21:41 on 2008-07-16
Brookhaven National Lab is not on Stonybrook campus
Posted by: MS, 05:08:05 on 2008-07-16
You might want to add another town.. Chernobyl is fully blurred out.
Posted by: scott, 04:10:19 on 2008-07-16
You forgot area 51...
Posted by: Andrew, 04:04:15 on 2008-07-16
You missed the old radar stations at the top of Greenland that were early warning stations during the Cold War.
Posted by: Lee, 04:01:08 on 2008-07-16
Funny, you can still see the west coast PAVE PAWS location. http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8≪=39.136127,-121.350244&spn;=0.001989,0.004699&t;=h&z;=18
Posted by: Yeah Right, 03:55:31 on 2008-07-16
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